Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I plan a more complete "tribute" to new NCTE Poetry Award winner, Lee Bennett Hopkins, very soon, but in the mean time, here is a gem to share. Lee has fielded questions about "why poetry?" so many times in his four-plus decades of working in schools he’s penned the following. Enjoy-- and let poetry into your lives!

1 comment:

JSottile
said...

I really enjoy the poems and poetry anthologies of Lee Bennett Hopkins. As for "Why Poetry?", I frequently use that as a poetry starter when I am visiting schools. I am curious as to what book did Lee's poem first appear in? I also included in a not so recent blog.

About Me

Sylvia Vardell is a professor and author of the ALA bestseller POETRY ALOUD HERE, also THE POETRY TEACHER'S BOOK OF LISTS, POETRY PEOPLE, CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN ACTION, and the co-editor of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY series and the POETRY FRIDAY POWER BOOK series in collaboration with poet Janet Wong. Vardell is also the poetry columnist for ALA’s BOOK LINKS magazine and for the NSTA journal, SCIENCE AND CHILDREN (along with Janet Wong). A frequent speaker at conferences, Vardell chaired the NCTE Poetry Award committee, served as a judge for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and has been a consultant to the Poetry Foundation.